


Party of None

by theowo



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Depression, Invisible character, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Affection, References to Depression, aloha is sad, aloha needs a hug okay, catalopods, is it team pink or pink team, mentions of abuse (eventually), missing person, team pink has i s s u e s!!, this fic is gonna get pretty dark at some points, this is why we can’t have nice things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:08:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23056009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theowo/pseuds/theowo
Summary: In a such a colorful and musical city like Inkopolis, it's easy to have your own song drowned out.However, no one expected to have such a prominent figure in Turf War be the one who fell silent.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	1. left without a trace

**Author's Note:**

> id like to thank my friend crazyarrows for helping me out with a title bc i cannot with titles for an entire work--

“I’ve been looking for him this whole fucking day!! What the hell did you think I was doing?!”

Diver screamed into his phone, slamming open the door to his shared apartment.

Aloha had been missing for three days now.

At first, no one had thought much of it. Both Team Pink and the S4 had assumed he was just spending more time with the other. Nothing major. At least not in the S4’s eyes.

Then he started staying out late. Later than he normally did when they went out to parties.

Diver brushed it off though as Aloha had said that he was taking some late shifts at Grizzco with Mask.

He only learned that it wasn’t the case half of the time since Grizzco rarely had shifts that late and Mask wouldn’t even take any shifts past 7.

Then Aloha had disappeared altogether.

There wasn’t any trace of him anywhere.

No missing clothes, food, money, nothing.

His teammates tried calling him a couple of times but the first time they did nothing but silence could be heard on the other end. After that the calls wouldn’t go through.

Diver hung up and tossed his phone onto the couch, unaware of the shadow that jumped at the action.

The shadow simply stared as Diver pulled out a certain bottle from the cupboard and poured the drink in a cup. Of course he was drinking at a time like this…

The shadow let out a small shaky breath and moved from its hiding place, avoiding the lights from the kitchen and making its way to Aloha’s room.

Locking the door, it went over to the bed, picking up the things it had gathered.

Hardly anything. 

A change of clothes, a couple of different snacks it’d snuck out of the pantry over time, two different notebooks, and some pens and pencils.

Everything was placed into a backpack and slung over the shoulder of the owner of the shadow; an invisible figure.

Diver wouldn’t notice it was leaving.

He didn’t notice the amount of food going missing.

He didn’t notice the shadow lingering behind the rest of his team whenever they went out.

He didn’t notice the quiet, panicked voice asking for their help during those calls.

The only ones who noticed probably didn’t even care.

A team whose leader Aloha always mocked for every loss and a team he’d only recently met.

Even then only one person from the second team even noticed.

The second-in-command, an octoling who could barely stand being near his team for even a couple of minutes and fled when he asked her if something was wrong.

The owner of the shadow pulled out a cellphone.

...

An hour before the train departed.

An hour and a half walk from the apartment complex, supposedly.

The invisible figure put the phone to charge and placed it on the nightstand, opening the window and leaving through the fire escape.

It would reach the station in… maybe 45 minutes. Tops.


	2. train stations are apparently a good place to question your life choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> why is the train station even open at this hour who’s gonna go “time to travel across inkopolis” at 11pm— oh wait

...30 minutes.

Too much time to spare.

The invisible figure didn’t even have a train pass.

It simply left the backpack in a safe spot for now and sat on a bench in front of the tracks.

No one was really around anyway, so it wasn’t too concerned about the possibility of being squished by someone.

Yet it still found itself so paranoid.

It couldn’t really do anything, anyways.

It would’ve been too suspicious if someone happened to have come across a pen and notebook just floating on their own.

So it was left alone to its thoughts.

Aloha lied to them.

So easily, as well, that it was terrifying.

Octoglasses and Straw didn’t care.

Well, not more than they usually did.

They were upset as usual that he was spending more time with the S4 than his team.

Diver had given more thought to it than them, but not very much more.

He still treated him just the same.

Mask didn’t bother with him, as usual.

Neither did Skull.

Rider seemed more preoccupied with other things, though still bothered to keep calling longer than his teammates did even if he couldn’t hear him.

And just as he did every time Aloha was late or didn’t show up at all meetings, Army would give him an odd stare. One that was on the borderline of being a glare, yet with something hiding behind it that prevented it from being so.

What was it exactly?

He wished he understood. Maybe if whatever happened to him stalled for just a bit longer he could’ve found out.

And Team Hachi hadn’t been able to get into contact with him, but he didn’t blame them.

They joined a tournament shortly before he slowly started going missing. They were busy, he wasn’t too hurt that they decided to prioritize practicing.

Still, the look the second-in-command—Nana—had in her eyes every time she saw his team in the square… almost as if she knew… as if she could see him despite…

The invisible figure jumped.

Seven minutes.

The train came early.

It picked up the backpack and hid among a small group of people who boarded, hiding near the very back.

It should’ve been paying closer attention, not dwelling on matters that shouldn’t matter to it.

Aloha was gone anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m sorry the formatting is kind of weird this story was made not to be read in chapters but just as a drabble but then this got fun to write so now it’s a fully fledged story


	3. the sound of the train going over the tracks is really relaxing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> invisible cephalopod on da train
> 
> what will they think about

The figure looked around for any indication of where the train was heading.

It hadn’t gotten off at the first stop.

Or the second.

Or third or fourth or fifth.

Nothing but pitch black skies against a fleeting cityscape.

Slowly the stars began shining through the inky black veil as buildings became sparse.

...when was the last time Aloha-

No.

It had no business thinking about matters that didn’t concern it.

The figure let out a small sigh and looked out the window.

More stars littered the night sky.

Not nearly as many as it’s seen in photos from human times, yet…

So many.

Shining so brightly. So bravely.

Yet so far and so out of reach.

Just like…

…

The train’s wheels whined as they slowed to a stop.

The final stop of the line.

The figure slipped out of the cart as some jellyfish workers came by to check for anyone who stayed until the end of the line.

The figure jumped from the station platform and ran past a bit of shrubbery.

Slowly the shrubbery became denser and the figure was having a hard time maneuvering through it.

It looked up.

Nothing.

...

The stars that once provided him company were gone.


	4. i know who you pretend i am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some regret with a pinch of self-hatred is a great recipe for an s-ranker with astronomical popularity

Aloha found himself alone yet again.

It wasn’t an uncommon thing.

The rest of his team was always out doing something.

And he always found himself fleeing.

Fleeing from supposedly one of the strongest teams in Inkopolis.

Fleeing back to a silent apartment, doing nothing of importance, simply getting lost in the abyss known as his thoughts.

At least until he got bombarded by messages.

And every time he returned to the meetings he was greeted by the same indifference from Skull and Mask and welcomed by that same stare from Army and the same lecture about being more mindful about practice.

And every time he came back with the same retorts. Calling him lame, weak, uptight, uncool…

...why did he keep trying, anyway?

Why did he keep going back if he knew nothing would change?

Why did he keep believing that he could do something right for once?

Aloha idly looked back up.

Nothing but darkness.

The stars were gone.

They’d left a long time ago.

...were they truly ever there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this has nothing to do with the story but if you dont listen to her already you should listen to mitski shes a really good artist. washing machine heart and townie are highly reccomended.


	5. getoutgetoutgetoutgetout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> runnin im runnin im runnin

The invisible figure ran through the greenery, its hearts racing.

The branches above it lunged forward, gripping and pulling onto anything they could grab.

The shrubbery slithered violently around it, getting tangled up in its limbs.

The wind carried a hiss to it, one that said get out. One that said leave. One that made it clear that it wasn’t welcomed here. One that was all too familiar.

Yet the figure kept running deeper and deeper, their breaths becoming uneven as the world began to close in on them.

Just keep going.

The figure hissed and held just below one of the backpack straps. Beads of blue adorned a nearby branch.

Just keep going.

The ground beneath it seemingly disappeared, and it struggled to keep from falling through to its core.

Just keep going.

The sky above remained empty. Nothing in sight. Not even the moon was watching. Perhaps it was too pitiful a sight for her.

Just keep…

The world closed in.

The figure fell through the ground.

It desperately tried to keep a hold of it, not wanting to slip any further. 

Eventually, the figure hit the core, its world turning dark.

It faced the sky, a shaking hand reaching out, calling out, pleading, begging for anyone who was watching…

...a single star answered its plea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do you remember
> 
> the 21st night of september 
> 
> coz i sure don't
> 
> alsoi forgot to post this bc my way of deciding when to update is kind of weird but theres likely gonna be another chapter pretty soon because im about to finish the one im writing 
> 
> also also i couldnt figure out a title for this chapter for a while adkjdksjdk


	6. let's go in the garden, you'll find something waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> owo whats this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think this might be the longest chapter for this story yet lmao
> 
> chapters are gonna get longer as this story goes on

Nana yawned as she made her way down a quiet path behind the campgrounds, her phone in hand while the other was occupied by a bag. Her claws made a small clicking sound as she typed up a text, looking up occasionally to the path.

[Nana to Army]

Me > sorry if its very early, im just reaching out to confirm that were meeting for practice today?

...a small sigh escaped her lips. It sounded so awkward, yet...

Her Inkish had improved quite a bit since she moved to the surface with her team, yet it still had a long way to go. 

For a long time, she didn’t get a response, so she simply tucked her phone into her pocket and continued her small quest, quiet hums escaping from her.

Her quest came to an end as she came across a clearing, a small, tired content hum coming from her this time.

She kneeled down a small group of plants, their flowers in bloom a beautiful, rich blue.

“Good morning Specs, Goggles, Bobble, Headphones…”

She pulled out a watering can and popped off the lid, reaching into the bag and pulling out a small packet.

“I know it’s very early, but it’s time for me to start the day.”

She ripped open the packet with her beak and spilled its contents into the watering can, placing the lid back on it and swirling it about.

After a bit she poured the mixture onto the plants, placing the watering can to the side when she was done and lightly stroking the delicate leaves of one of the plants.

“...seems like you’re doing much better… I hope you managed to sort things out, Specs.”

She then got up and proceeded to do the same with the other plants, saying good morning, watering them, and hoping their ailments had ceased.

She stopped for a bit in front of a group of plants whose flowers bloomed a lovely orange.

“Good morning Army, Forge, Blue, and White.”

Just as before she watered them, though she stayed in front of them for less time.

“I’m excited about meeting you all later today for practice, I hope you’re all doing okay!!”

She got up and proceeded to the last group of plants with a bit of apprehension.

“...good morning, Team Pink…”

Just as with their namesakes, Nana could barely bring herself to talk with the plants.

She watered them and sat silently in front of them, before shifting the plants a bit to reveal a single, wilting hibiscus flower.

“...good morning, Aloha…”

Her voice became softer as she gingerly touched the petals, wary of them breaking off.

“...everyone misses you dearly… we’re worried about you… I hope you’re safe, wherever you may be...”

Though there wasn’t any wind the flower swayed slightly.

Nana sighed and stood up, pulling out her phone and opening up the messenger app.

[No new messages.]

“...it’s still pretty early in the morning… wouldn’t be surprised if he’s still asleep...”

She decided to take an alternative path back to the campgrounds. Albeit a longer path back with a bit of a tricky trench in the midst of it, but with a view of the lake that made it all worthwhile.

She had to remind herself a couple of times to look back at the path and stay on the lookout for the trench so she wouldn’t fall in, though she made sure to take a couple of pictures when she could.

“Ooooo, this one came out really nice… especially since the flowers started blooming... maybe I should come out in the evening to take a photo of the sunset…”

She looked up to see the ground dipping in front of her, inhaling sharply as she realized that had she taken another step forward she would’ve fallen in.

‘Stay focused on the path…’

She grabbed onto some loose tree roots sticking out and slowly made her way down the trench, brushing herself off when she got to the bottom.

She looked around to assure nothing had fallen out of her bag, noticing something in the distance.

‘Did someone lose something..?’

She walked up to the item, looking around.

A backpack.

“...hello? Anyone there?”

…

No response.

‘They must be gone… I should take it to the lost and found.’

She grabbed the strap and gave it a tug, nearly falling back when the backpack seemingly flew back on its own.

She blinked and rubbed her eyes.

‘...I’m not seeing things, am I? There’s not actually a floating backpack in front of me, right?’

Nope, that’s definitely what it seemed like.

Nana just stood there, staring.

“...I must be pretty tired…”

She took a step back, turning to the other side of the trench before she was pulled back a bit.

The backpack was still there, seemingly shaking now.

“U-Um… I…”

‘ImadeitangryitsprobablyoneoftheghostsofTriggerfishImprobablygoingtobecursed-‘

The backpack fell to the ground, opening to let a pen and notebook fly out.

The notebook quickly opened up and the pen scribbled something quickly before the notebook floated over to Nana.

[Please don’t leave]

Nana stared at the page before there was a small tug on the notebook. She immediately let go, nearly dropping it.

The notebook floated back up before it hit the ground.

“...are you a ghost?”

The pen quickly scribbled something and the notebook was handed back to Nana.

[No]

A sigh of relief came from Nana. At least she probably wouldn’t be cursed.

“Well, if you’re not a ghost, then what are you?”

[An inkling.]

“How come you’re invisible?”

[I really have no idea.]

“Do you have a name?”

…

Something was written but quickly scribbled out before Nana got a chance to clearly see what it was.

“...how long were you lying here?”

No response.

The pen and notebook fell to the ground and a solid presence fell towards Nana.

She scrambled to grab onto whatever was there, awkwardly shifting the figure in her arms.

“Oh Cod, hey? Is everything okay?”

…

No response.

She managed to pick up the figure in a way that let her pick up the items on the ground as well and climbed out of the trench, continuing her walk back to the campgrounds.

‘....how is this… maybe this isn’t happening. Maybe I’m still asleep and this is just some crazy dream.’

Nana placed the figure on the bed in her tent and noticed a blue stain on her shirt.

‘I hope I wake up soon. I really need to get started on these things in the real world.’

She changed her shirt and grabbed the first aid kit in one of the boxes in the tent, using some spare bandages to find the cut so she could treat it.

‘Wonder if I'll meet the invisible figure when I wake up… Maybe this is one of those prophetic dreams and the invisible figure will be someone in real life?'

A response from Army.

Pony waking up.

Hachi waking up.

Afro waking up.

They all started on breakfast, did the rest of their chores, and made their way to the stage.

Nana lingered back just for a bit, taking some of the leftovers from breakfast and leaving them in the tent.

‘...maybe… it's a good thing that I haven't woken up yet…’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was going to update this a lot earlier (a week or so after the last chapter i think) but my whole life kind of fell apart and i had to cut off some people because one of them made me feel unsafe and another admitted their whole person that i knew was a lie and i ended up reliving trauma thanks to both of them so thank you junko fucking enoshima and kokichi ouma 2020 russian president
> 
> anyways since writing is my escape expect more updates more frequently because i actually really love working on this story its very fun even with the sad nature of this story and the fact that its going to end up pretty dark
> 
> also look out for another work since ive been writing for another au too n i have quite a bit for it
> 
> also also im gonna get therapy soon can we get some pog champs in the chat


	7. scatterbrained practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the littlest things throw you off and it's hard to focus back as if nothing ever happened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i fucked up the italics and fixing them was a pain in the ass but basically the italicized text is supposed to represent them speaking in another language (octarian) i have no idea if its still fucked up tho

“W-Sailor, watch out! You're going to roll off the edge!!”

“Ah, sorry sorry!”

_“Afro, look out for Blue-!!”_

No use.

The Krak-On Roller wielder was taken down before he even had a chance to hear the warning from his teammates.

“Wahhhh!!”

“W-Sailor!!”

At least they were balanced out now.

Nana tossed a bomb from behind the wall, a small irritated huff coming from her as she heard it fall into the water.

Even with how much time they spent practicing at Camp Triggerfish due to proximity they still had a bit of difficulty when it came to playing Rainmaker on the stage.

And Nana had still not gotten the hang of lugging bombs across the stage rather than into the water.

Though normally Team Hachi would stand a chance against Army’s, they were losing. Badly.

_“Nana, Pony, get to curbing their progress, I'm going to try taking down Blue.”_

_“R-Right!”_

_“Got it!”_

Hachi inked up the floodgate and swam up it, slowly creeping through the ink paths to not catch anyone's attention.

Nana and Pony narrowly dodged the shot from the Rainmaker, quickly shaking off the enemy ink.

_“I'll take down Army, you take down Forge.”_

_“O-Okay okay!”_

‘...shouldn't this be the other way around? I'm the second-in-command… argh, focus!!’

Nana shook her head and duck back into the ink, narrowly avoiding the burst of ink hurling their way. She turned back to make sure Pony was still okay.

Sure enough, she was still up and shooting.

_“Now!!”_

Nana tossed a bomb towards the pair making their way to the podium, popping out of the ink. Pony rolled beside her, doing her best to steady herself but keep her aim trained on Army.

As the octolings anticipated, Forge jumped in front of Army, taking the damage from their attacks.

Nana lugged a bomb towards them again and shut her eyes tightly, feeling the familiar pressure of an explosion of ink against her chest.

Though it subsided as a faint announcement played.

_Splatted Forge!!_

‘I did it!! I didn't get splatted this time!!’

_“Good job Nana!!”_

_“T-Thank you!!”_

Nana took this chance to fall back and recover from the attack, shaking off the orange ink.

She watched as Hachi jumped down from the floodgate and slipped into the ink, Army's movements becoming more frantic as he noticed that his teammates were all downed. With barely any time to charge up the Rainmaker, he shot smaller bursts, hoping to at least push back the two Octolings eating at their progress.

One hit.

Two hits.

_Army has been splatted!!_

_“Booyah!!”_

Nana popped out of the ink and watched the small wisp of a spirit float towards Team Orange’s base. 

_“Come on, we still have time to take back this match!!”_

_“Right!!”_

_“G-Got it!!”_

Nana swam up to her teammates and helped them burst the Rainmaker’s barrier, picking it up once it was free and ducking into the ink. 

Afro caught up to them and began to create a path through the orange ink, while Hachi and Pony followed suit and duck into the ink besides Nana. 

Not even a few seconds had passed and they ran into the first Team Orange member—Sailor White. 

The three octolings popped back out, Hachi taking the lead with Afro. 

_“K-Keep an eye out for Blue and Forge!!”_

As if on cue a stray trail of orange ink formed right between Nana and Pony. 

Thankfully the former dodged. 

_“Wahhh!!”_

Nana fumbled the Rainmaker a bit in her grasp and turned around, charging up an attack. 

She, unfortunately, failed to have noticed Blue was standing on the netting, so it simply phased through. 

_5._

Forge popped out from her hiding spot. 

_4._

Army joined the fray. 

_3._

“Nana, watch out!!” 

Pony pushed her out of the way just as a bomb that had been hurled their way was set off, splatting her. 

_“P-Pony!!”_

_2._

Afro and Sailor White found themselves in a similar situation as last time. Though Afro found himself the victor of their small encounter, Forge finished him off with a single blast. 

_1._

_GAME!!_

The Rainmaker disappeared shortly after the match had ended. 

Both Nana and Hachi let out a long sigh. 

_“We did way worse…”_

_“Yeah… I’m… sorry about that…_

_"Don't apologize, it's not your fault.”_

The two Octolings went back to the base to wait for their teammates to respawn, then tried to pinpoint what went wrong before Army very kindly yet harshly pointed out all the flaws. 

_"So then…"_

Nana tried to speak up and take charge, yet the only things she could think to talk about were everywhere she went wrong. So, in the end, she just fell quiet and let Hachi speak up. 

...well, there was one thing. But she'd have to wait until he finished whatever he was telling Afro. 

_"You've slipped back to the habit of going off with a single horizontal swing rather than more vertical swings. You also seemed to have forgotten about Blue a lot.”_

_“Yeah, sorry. Tried to be a bit more mindful of that.”_

_As soon as the two fell silent she spoke up, doing her best to keep her voice steady._

_"...Pony, you need to stop trying to take the blow from bombs for me.”_

_“Eh?”_

_“I have two pieces of gear stacked with bomb defenses, I would’ve been fine.”_

_“You were pretty distracted during the battle, though. You didn’t even notice the bomb behind us.”_

Nana’s face turned warm. 

Pony was right and she had almost nothing in response. 

_“I.. but, still. I would’ve been able to take the hit just fine.”_

_“...she’s still right, Nana,"_ Hachi interjected, turning to her as she looked down, _"You’ve been distracted since the morning.”_

_Nana didn’t look up at her teammates. She just stayed quiet._

_“...something’s wrong, isn’t it?”_

_"...I'll tell you all after the meeting's over, okay? It’s nothing serious. Well, not too serious-“_

She paused and looked up, feeling a deep pang in her chest at her teammates’ worried looks. 

_“...i-it has nothing to do with me, I promise. It’s something, well, someone, I found in the morning. I’m worried for them.”_

… 

_"...Inklings can't go invisible, can they?"_

"...what?" 

The Octolings jumped a bit as they heard a new voice enter the conversation, turning to see Army and his team standing before them. 

"Oh, it's nothing. Just something from a battle with Goggles." 

Upon the blue squid being mentioned, Army seemed quick to dismiss the subject. 

"Well, at any rate, we should begin discussing improvements you can make to your strategy for the tournament. I'm sure you've all taken note of how the last match went compared to the rest." 

And of course, as they anticipated, Army started hacking at every little error they had made in that match. 

Though this time Nana quickly dismissed Army when he asked her why she had been so distracted. Said it was nothing big. He, thankfully, dropped the subject for now. 

After a bit of writing in his manual he closed it, signaling that he was done. 

"Besides… how bad that last match went… you've all improved quite a bit. I'm sure the tournament will go rather smoothly for you." 

Army mumbled something else under his breath but the most Nana could pick up from it was Team Blue. 

'...he must really be having a bad day, isn't he? I should probably check in with him later...' 

Nana was pulled out of her thoughts as Hachi spoke up. 

"Army, we're going to have to go after this match. We have to do something important." 

Even if there wasn’t any sort of shift in his expression the air around Army seemed to have changed. 

“If… it’s a matter of importance then you should get going then.” 

“But the block we reserved isn’t over-” 

“It’ll be fine, I’ll tell them we’ve canceled on your behalf.” 

“Thank you, Army.” 

“We’ll make it up to you!!” 

“It’s fine, really.” 

Army smiled at the octolings to try to reassure them, though something felt off about it. 

“Right then, let’s get going.” 

Team Hachi soon left the stage and Camp Triggerfish, walking along a path that took them to the campgrounds. 

The trip was quiet, though the silence among them was cut once again by Pony. 

_“Anyways, Nana, what happened this morning?”_

_“I found someone passed out in the trench near the camp this morning. The weird thing about them though…”_

A moment of hesitation as Nana recalled the events of earlier that morning, seemingly gauging whether or not they really happened. 

_“...is that they’re invisible.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this might be my last time posting on ao3, i just don't feel comfortable on a site where the terms of service actively defend written pornography of minors, especially of real minors
> 
> if this is really the last time i post on here you can reach me on twitter @/veowoiin and instagram @/babyfication until i figure out where i'll move this and my other fics to


End file.
